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Chariots of War
| }} /Appearances|Appearances}} /Gallery|Gallery}} /Videos|Videos}} }} |Written By = |Story By = Josh Becker & Jack Perez |Teleplay By = Adam Armus & Nora Kay Foster |Directed By = Harley Cokeliss |Order in Series = 2 of 134 |Order in Season = 2 of 24 |Order in Franchise= 22 of 304 |Prev Episode in Series = "Sins of the Past" |Next Episode in Series = "Dreamworker" |Prev Episode in Franchise = "All That Glitters" |Next Episode in Franchise = "What's in a Name?" |title cap image = }} "I'm looking for my best friend, maybe you've seen her? Six foot tall, dark hair, lots of leather, fights like the Harpies in a bad mood." - Gabrielle describing Xena Xena is hit by an arrow whilst defending a village, rendering her unable to stop their brutal attack. While she recuperates in the care of a local family, Gabrielle is left to fend for herself against cutthroats and thieves in a tavern while awaiting Xena's return. Summary Xena and Gabrielle walk along in a tavern, as Gabrielle is telling Xena a story about Zeus and his appreciation for mortals and turning two lovers into oak trees. Xena doesn't seem interested and wants to know what the point of this story is, to which Gabrielle tells her she believes everyone will find their tree in the forest someday, even Xena. Xena tells Gabrielle she is going to ride up ahead, and see if they can ford the Meleatus River, Otherwise, they'll have to double back two days. Xena leaves Gabrielle at the tavern and rides ahead, promising to not forget about her. is shot with an arrow]] Meanwhile, In a peaceful valley where settlers have joined together to build a new barn, thugs under the command of the evil Cycnus suddenly swoop down in chariots and destroy the structure. Xena rides up just in time to pull a young boy to safety before he is crushed by the collapsing timbers. For saving the boy's life, Sphaerus, Cycnus' son and the leader of the thugs, strikes her down with an arrow and rides off. Darius, the young boy's father, nurses Xena's wound and insists that she stay with him and his children until it is healed. Cycnus meanwhile is pleased that his son has managed to do well in his previous attack and attacked and put down Xena. Sphaerus hopes to be worthy of Ares. Later as Xena recovers in bed, Darius' two children Argolis and Lycus move into Xena's room, as they talk about her and argue over who will get her hose if she dies, and Xena opens her eyes and tells the boys it will take more than an arrow to get rid of her. Lycus then runs out of the room, calling his father. Xena lies back down. Meanwhile, Gabrielle waits in a tavern for Xena still wondering when she'll show up. She makes conversation with the Homesteader who is annoyed by her conversations without buying a drink, as she continues her chatter. Xena is sitting in bed up with the children gathered around her and telling them a story about a giant who had her trapped in a boxed canyon. The children are loving the story, until Darius shows up, prompting Xena to change the story to a new suitable one for children. The children laugh and so does Darius. When the children ask Xena if she travels with a family, she says she doesn't' have a family. Xena looks at Sarita, asking what her name is, and the family reveals she hasn't talked since her mother died. There's a knock at the door. Darius opens it to see Tynus, informing them that Xena still being around will cause problems, and Darius says she'll be on her way when she is well. Darius looks to Xena's bed, but she is gone, having heard what was being said about her, he returns to find Xena in the stable ready to leave with Argo, and saddling her up. Darius thinks in her condition she can't leave and asks why she is afraid of letting someone take care of her. Xena admits, that Tynus is right, her past is horrible, and Darius doesn't care, because he saved his son. However, moments later, Sphaerus and his henchmen ride out of the darkness to attack again. The next day, Gabrielle meets Sphaerus and unaware of what has happened, reveals the woman's warrior's identity. Later, Darius and the other townspeople meet with Sphaerus to arrange a peace, though none of the townspeople know that Cycnus has given his son orders to slaughter them all. Suspecting the worst, Xena insists on accompanying Darius to the meeting, though she lays down her warrior gear and is beautifully disguised in a dress that belonged to his late wife. Before Sphaerus' hidden thugs can launch their attack, however, Xena discovers their hiding place and launches a fierce fight and rips the dress and fights them. She kicks a man into the room with the villagers. Startled, the townspeople flee and Sphaerus, beginning to question his father's cruel plan, orders his men not to follow. Fearful of Sphaerus' revenge, Darius prepares to move away before he returns. Xena tries to convince him to stay and fight, but when Darius refuses, she dons her warrior tunic and vows to continue the battle herself. At the same time, Cycnus, accusing his son of cowardice, leads the thugs in one last chariot raid against Xena and the townspeople. Xena rides along and sees Gabrielle, who has been looking for Xena. Xena tells her she ran into some trouble, and Gabrielle is not too pleased, but Xena tells her she is sorry. Xena quickly changes the subject to send Xena to a farmhouse for safety, and Gabrielle is not happy and refuses, and Xena eventually gives in to let her come along. Sphaerus and Cycnus ride in a chariot towards the village. There's a second chariot with them. Sending Gabrielle ahead to act as a decoy, Xena takes out several of Cycnus' men before commandeering a chariot and facing Cycnus and Sphaerus with her sword and chakram. Seeing her bravery and that Darius has returned to help her, Sphaerus turns his sword against his own father, vowing that the killing must end. In the end, Xena slays Cycnus before he can kill his son. Sphaerus then promises that the townspeople shall live in peace and Xena and Gabrielle bid farewell to their new friends before continuing on their journey. Darius asks Xena that there's no reason she can't have the same things he does with a family. Xena admits maybe one day. Outside she meets Gabrielle ready to go. As she takes one final look at Darius and the kids, she asks Gabrielle if she ever misses her family. Gabrielle tells Xena she does sometimes, but not as much as when she is with Xena. As they walk along, Gabrielle tells Xena she learned an important lesson today, and that is she really hates chariots which makes Xena laugh. Background Information Behind the Scenes *This episode was originally called "Sins of the Father". *Shooting dates: July 05, 1995 through July 18th, 1995 (9 day shoot). *This episode marks the only appearance of actor Jeffrey Thomas, who plays legendary Argonaut Jason on . *There's a cut scene during the Xena-Darius goodbye scene, Xena says she's never thought of having a home and family until now and tells Darius he's a lucky man. She says, "Somewhere out there I have a father. I want to know about him. I want to know if he's as wonderful a man as you." Darius then kisses Xena. **This was likely removed once they changed Xena's father's backstory. *The writers originally intended to have Sphaerus be a recurring love-interest for Gabrielle, but decided to go along with different characters throughout the first season. He was originally thought to be brought back in "Return of Callisto" and end up married to Gabrielle, but killed by Callisto. They ended up going with Perdicas instead. * Josh Becker revealed in an interview for The Official XENA Magazine (Issue #7 – June 2000) that the writing process for Xena was fairly difficult at the beginning of the series in production and that a Hercules story ended up becoming a Xena episode. “everybody at Renaissance went into a total panic thinking, ‘How do we make a Xena episode? What the hell is it about?’ Meanwhile, I had written a number of Hercules stories… but I went uncredited on them…. They couldn’t figure out how to write a Xena episode, nor did they have a writing staff so I took one of my Hercules stories and changed Hercules to Xena – it doesn’t have Gabrielle in it, because the character hadn’t been created yet! So I took this story and handed it to Rob, who said, ‘This works,’ and they bought it!” Key Events *This episode marks the first time that the Chakram is named on-screen. Trivia Chakram Count: 1 #To stop Cycnus from killing Sphaerus, his son. Links and References Main Cast *Lucy Lawless as Xena *Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle Guest Stars *Nick Kokotakis as Darius *Jeffrey Thomas as Cycnus *Stuart Turner as Sphaerus *Nigel Godfrey as Tynus *Robert Harte as Ugly Ruffian *Dane Jerro as Homesteader *Patrick Morrison as Lycus *Ruth Morrison as Sarita *Morgan Palmer Hubbard as Argolis Season Navigation de:Kampf um Frieden Category:XWP Season 1 episodes